Conveying system and apparatus for pulp wood



\ May 3, 1932- J. STADLER 1,356,113

CONVEYING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PULP WOOD Filed Jan. 2, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fm Q Q JOHNSI'ADLER E2 5 ATTORNEYS INVENIOR May 3, 1932. J STADLER 1,856,118

CONVEYING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PULP wooD Filed Jan. 2, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

IN VE NT OR JO H STAD LER BY Q AT T OBNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR JOHN STADLER ATTOBNE S May 3, 1932. J. STADLER CONVEYING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PULP WOOD Filed Jan. 2, 1950 BY J Patented May 3, 1932 JOHN STADLER, 0F MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA CONVEYING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PULP WOOD Application filed January 2, 1930. Serial No. 418,049.

This invention relates to a conveying system and apparatus designed to facilitate the stacking and reclaiming of pulp wood.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a system, wherein the stacking of the pulp wood and the reclaiming ol the stacked wood are both accomplished pincipally through the agency of a single rotating boom conveyor of the cantilever type having a power driven stacking and reclaiming cable conveyor element associated therewith, said power driven conveyor element being arranged to co-operate, during the reclaiming opera tion, with auxiliary conveyors located in suitable troughs underlying the stacked wood.

Another purpose is to provide a system wherein the boom and conveyor elements are arranged and operated in such manner that the wood, during the reclaiming operation,

' is returned to substantially the same point from which it is conveyed during the staclring operation.

Another purpose is to provide a system wherein the stacking and reclaiming boom is equipped with inner and outer sets of supporting wheels arranged to travel on lnner and outer concentric circular tracks the wheels of one set being positioned substantially at right angles to the wheels of the other set, whereby one set of wheels are free to move along the co-operating supporting track in a direction to compensate for ex pansion and contraction.

Other purposes, advantages and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view inside elevation of a conveying system and apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic seetional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan View of a portion of the boom and boom supporting structure shown in Figure 1.

Figures is an enlarged diagrammatic sec tional view taken substantially along the line ea of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view illus crating the manner in which the wood is stacked around a central point coinciding with the axis about which the cantilever boom is rotated during the stacking or reclaiming operations.

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view taken along the line 66 of Figure 1. so

Referring more particularly to the drawings 11 designates a boom of the cantilever type presenting a substantially horizontal inner portion or anchor arm 12 and an upward-' ly inclined outer portion or cantilever arm 13. At its inner end the boom is supported by Wheels 14; arranged to travel on a relative ly small circular track 15. At the base of the inclined portion 13, the boom is supported by trucks 16 equipped with Wheels 17 arranged to travel on a relatively large cir-- cular track 18. This outer track 18 surrounds the inner track 15 in concentric relation thereto so that the boom is caused to travel in a circular path when the propelling power is applied in a suitable manner (not shown) to all or certain of the truck wheels 17. The arrangement is such that the centre of rotation of the boom is located at the centre of the inner track 15.

The boom carries a stacking conveyor trough 19 which may be of any suitable construction. The upper end of this conveyor trough communicates with a downwardly inclined discharge chute 20, while the lower end of the trough communicates with ateed hopper 21. The feed hopper 21 is centered above the inner track 15 so as to always retain its receiving position directly beneath the outlet 22 of a wood supply conveyor structure, including a trough 23 and a suitable form of cable conveyor 2 1. The cable conveyor 2 1 is trained around a vertically disposed sheave 25 mounted adjacent the outlet 22. From the sheave 25, the cable conveyor 24 is carried around a pair of upper and lower vertically arranged sheaves indicatcd at 26 and 27 and which may be supported in any suitable manner (not shown).- From the sheave 27, the cable 241 is carried forwardly to a horizontally disposed sheave 28, which is located in front of a reclaiming trough section 29 having its receiving end located in a concrete or other suitable base 30 on which the inner circular traclr 15 is mounted. Surrounded by the said track 15 and positioned immediately above the receiving end of the reclaiming conveyor section 29 is a hopper or chute 31. After passing around the sheave 28 the conveyor cable 2% is carried through the reclaiming conveyor section 29 and serves as a return conveyor by means of which the reclaimed wood that is delivered to the reclaiming hopper 31, as hereinafter set. forth, is conveyed to any suitable point such as the wood roomof a paper mill. The wood delivred to the hopper 21 and the lower end of the stacking conveyor trough 19 is conveyed to the discharge chute 20 by means of an endless cable conveyor 33, which may be of any suitable construction and provided with the usual conveying attachments (not shown). For piling purposes, the cable conveyor 33 is trained around the driven sheave 34 and the tail sheave 35 located. respectively, at the upper and lower ends of die boom 11. The upper flight of cable conveyor 33 operates in the trough 19, while the lower flight may be supported throughout its length, or at intervals, by means of any suitable form of guides indicated at 36 in Figure 4.

It will be understood that the cable con veyor 33 is intended to. be power driven by sheaves 35 but it is not thought necessary to describe any of the various .well known arr-angements by means of which this may be accomplished.

Suspended from the horizontal portion 12, of the boom, is an inclined reclaiming trough section 3'7. The upper or discharge end of trough section 37 is arranged to deliver to the reclaiming hopper 31 located within the track 15. The lower end of the trough 1 tion 37 is adapted, during rotary movement of the boom 12, to register with each of a plurality of stationary reclaiming troughs 38. As shown to advantage in Fig. 5, the

reclaiming troughs 38 are embeddec in the ground and arranged in a circular series grouped around the point 39 representing the axis of rotation of the boom 11. A short conveyor cable section 10 is arranged in each of the troughs 38 prior to the stacking op ration. For stacking or piling purposes, the boom 11 is moved in a circular path over almost a complete circle. The pulpwo-od is then delivered to the stacking conveyor trough19 through the agency of the tro gh 23, cable conveyor andh'opper 21. 7 inc wood is carried upwardly along the trough 19 by the conveyor 33 until it reaches the discharge chute 20 by means of which it is deposited on the ground above the underlying reclaiming troughs 38. Suitable precautions are taken, in the usual manner, to prevent clogging of the reclaiming trough 38 during the piling operation. After the wood has been piled to the desired height, the boom 11 is swung to a new position while the piling is in progress thus making the operation continuous within the entire radius of the boom.

When it is desired to reclaim the stacked or piled wood, the boom 11 is operated to position the reclaiming trough 37 thereof in line with one of the stationary reclaiming troughs 38. The cable conveyor 33 is divided and one of the separated ends, after being passed around a guide sheave ll located at the outer end of the stationary trough 38, is coupled to the outer end of the conveyor cable 40 by any of the usual forms of couplings (not shown) commonly employed for this purpose. 7 The remaining end of the cable 33 is passed downwardly through the reclaiming trough 37 of the boom and coupled to the inner end of the cable conveyor L0. The manner in which the cable 33 is re-arranged when coupled to the cable 40 is clearly indicated by the dotted lines X in Fig. 1, wherein it will be noted that the reclaiming conveyor conjointly provided by the connected conveyor elements 33 and 10 is arranged to pass over the sheaves 35, 34 and 11. 7

After the cable conveyors 33 and 40 have been coupled together, power is applied to the cable 33 through the drive pulley 34 so that the woodis conveyed from the bottom of the pile through the conveyor troughs 38 and 37 to the hopper 31, through which it drops into the reclaiming trough 29 and is conveyed away by the return portion of the conveyor cable 24 operating in said trough. As both the feed hop-per 21, employed for stacking purposes, and the reclaiming hopper 31, employed for reclaiming purposes, remain at all times centered with respect to the axis of rotation of the boom 11, it will be seen that during the reclaiming operation the wood is re turned by the boom to substantially the same point from whence it is conveyed during the stacking or piling operation. This provides a very simple, effective and economical ar rangement, which enables both the stacking and reclaiming operation to be performed throughthe agency of a single power operated boom conveyor co-operating with auxiliary reclaiming conveyors located beneath the piled material.

It will also be noted that the supporting wheels 17 operatin on the outer track 18 are arranged substantially at right angles to the supporting wheels l l'operating on the inner track 15. Thisarrangement enables one set of wheels to shift with reference to itssupporting track in a direction to compensate for expansion and contraction.

Having thus fully described what I now conceive to bathe preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A pulpwood stacking and reclaiming system comprising an endless power operated stacking conveyor capable of being divided to provide separated ends, means for supporting and bodily moving said stacking conveyor in a circular path about a fixed vertical axis located adjacent one end of said conveyor, and a plurality of normally idle auxiliary conveying elements arranged in predetermined positions around the axis about which the stacking conveyor is mo"- able, said system being characterized by the fact that the stacking operation is performed by piling the pulp wood upon the auxiliary conveying elements solely through the agency of the stacking conveyor while the reclaiming operation is performed by attaching each auxiliary conveying element in turn to the separated ends formed by dividing the stacking conveyor so that the connected stacking and auxiliary conveyors are thereby combined into a single reclaiming conveyor.

2. A system as recited in claim 1 in which the reclaiming conveyor formed by connecting the stacking and auxiliary conveyor elements is operated, during the reclaiming operation, by the same source of power which operates the stacking conveyor during the stacking operation.

3. A pulp wood stacking and reclaiming system, comprising a main conveying element and a plurality of auxiliary conveying elements, said main conveying element func tioning, during the stacking operation, to pile the wood above the auxiliary conveying elements and being capable of being divided to provide separated ends said auxiliary conveying elements being adapted, for reclaiming purposes, to be joined to the ends of the main conveying element when the latter is divided for this purpose.

at. A pulp wood stacking and reclaiming system, comprising a series of underground troughs, an auxiliary cable conveyor section located in each trough, an endless power operated stacking conveyor element adapted, during the stacking operation, to pile the wood above said troughs, and a reclaiming hopper to which the piled wood is conveyed by dividing the stacking cable to provide separated ends and attaching said separated ends to corresponding ends of each of the auxiliary conveying elements located in said troughs.

5. A pulp wood stacking and reclaiming system, comprising an endless power operated stacking conveyor mounted to travel in a rotary path and capable of being divided to provide separated ends, means for deliverof rotation and a plurality of reclaiming con-= veyor elements positioned beneath the piled wood and adapted, operation, to be connected to the separated ends formed by division of the stacking conveyor and to thereby form, in conjunction with the stacking conveyor, areclaiming conveyor for returning the piled wood to substantially the same point from which it is conveyed by the stacking conveyor during the piling operation. M

6. A pulp wood stacking and reclaiming system, comprising an endless power driven stacking conveyor element mounted to swing in a rotary path about a fixed vertical axis so that the wood delivered thereto is piled in substantially circular formation, and a plurality of auxiliary conveying elements positioned to be buried beneath the piled wood, said stacking conveyor being divisible to provide separated ends and each of said auxiliary conveying elements being adapted to be attached in turn to the separated ends of the stacking conveyor so as to co-operate therewith in forming a reclaiming conveyor for returning the piled wood to substantially the same point from whence it is conveyed by the stacking conveyor duringthe stacking operation.

7. A pulp wood stacking and reclaiming system, comprising an endless power driven stacking conveyor element mounted for bodily swinging movement in a circular path about a vertical axis and equipped with a wood receiving hopper located at said axis, a reclaiming hopper also located at said axis, said conveyor functioning during the stacking operation to pile the wood in circular formation about said axis and a plurality of reclaiming conveyor elements arranged to underlie the piled wood, said stacking conveyor being divisible ,to provide separated ends and each of the reclaiming elements bein g attachable in turn to the separated ends of the stacking conveyor to provide, in con junction therewith, a reclaiming conveyor for returning the piled wood to the reclaiming hopper.

8. A pulp wood stacking and reclaiming system, comprising a boom of the cantilever type mounted to travel in a circular path, an endless power driven conveying element carried by said boom and functioning, during the stacking operation, to pile the wood in substantially circular formation, a plurality of conveyor troughs arranged to be buried beneath the pile of wood, and an auxiliary conveying element housed in each of said troughs, said power driven conveying element being capable of being divided to produring the reclaiming vide separated ends; each oi said auxiliary conveying elements being connected in turn to the separated ends formed by the aforesaid division of the power driven conveyor 5; elements so as to provide, in conjunction With said power driven conveying element, a reclaiming conveyor for reclaiming the piled wood In witness whereof I he-ve hereunto set my L3 hand.

JOHN STADLEZR. 

